Ya know I think I knew about the support forum thing but I completely forgot about it. Sorry. Please find the attached nozzle check as well as well as 3 test target shots. “A” was printed on with ConeColor on Canson Baryta using a ColorMunki profile. “B” compares current printing with ConeColor (bottom) and original target. “C” Compares Epson inks after last nights water treatment suggested by Epson. I’ve run six 81/2x11 test targets and several test strips. I’m assuming that by now I’ve flushed the ConeColor out of the hoses and am printing with Epson’s ink. Do you think so?

I did top off the carts in May. They were not close to empty at that time.

I can’t get the attachments option to work … I sent the attachments in an email to techsupport.

I apologize for not responding yesterday, I was tied up on a support call that took the majority of my day.

I have attached the photos you sent (in order from top to bottom: A, B, C and nozzle check).
Your nozzle check shows all colors in the correct positions, and I can see the VLM is lighter than the VM, and LC is lighter than the C (I thought one of those carts may have been mis-filled, which would have caused the color shift you’re experiencing).

What I am noticing from the printed examples you sent, is the recent prints are significantly darker/more saturated, which is showing as a strong purple cast in many areas.
Was this nozzle check printed with the ConeColor inks, or after you reinstalled Epson and made several prints? If the nozzle check was made after switching inks, it would be helpful if you could check all the ConeColor inks by doing a Q-tip swab test comparing inks in the carts to inks in the bottles- using the bottle samples as the “known good” base, in case there’s any chance a cart was accidentally mis-filled. Use a clean Q-tip for each ink smear on a piece of scrap paper, and label each to specify the color and if it’s from cart or bottle.
Have you recently updated anything such as the printer firmware, computer OS, print driver, or software?
Have you shut down both the computer and printer at the same time for a total reset, then checked the output again? I have occasionally experienced sudden strange output that was solved by shutting down + restarting both machines.
Please send me screen captures of all your print settings for review, so I can review your complete workflow (not doubting you- but it’s an important thing to check and rule out, as one off setting can certainly effect the output quality/color).

I will await your responses to help me gain a better idea of your situation, in order to determine the cause and solution of this issue to get you back to happily printing.
Best regards~ Dana

I apologize for not responding yesterday, I was tied up on a support call that took the majority of my day.

I have attached the photos you sent (in order from top to bottom: A, B, C and nozzle check).
Your nozzle check shows all colors in the correct positions, and I can see the VLM is lighter than the VM, and LC is lighter than the C (I thought one of those carts may have been mis-filled, which would have caused the color shift you’re experiencing).

What I am noticing from the printed examples you sent, is the recent prints are significantly darker/more saturated, which is showing as a strong purple cast in many areas.
Was this nozzle check printed with the ConeColor inks, or after you reinstalled Epson and made several prints? If the nozzle check was made after switching inks, it would be helpful if you could check all the ConeColor inks by doing a Q-tip swab test comparing inks in the carts to inks in the bottles- using the bottle samples as the “known good” base, in case there’s any chance a cart was accidentally mis-filled. Use a clean Q-tip for each ink smear on a piece of scrap paper, and label each to specify the color and if it’s from cart or bottle.
Have you recently updated anything such as the printer firmware, computer OS, print driver, or software?
Have you shut down both the computer and printer at the same time for a total reset, then checked the output again? I have occasionally experienced sudden strange output that was solved by shutting down + restarting both machines.
Please send me screen captures of all your print settings for review, so I can review your complete workflow (not doubting you- but it’s an important thing to check and rule out, as one off setting can certainly effect the output quality/color).

I will await your responses to help me gain a better idea of your situation, in order to determine the cause and solution of this issue to get you back to happily printing.
Best regards~ Dana

Hi Dana, I spoke with our work study students and one topped off carts after I did in May. It’s looking like that may be the problem. I hope so any way. He’s feeling pretty bad … I assured him that while he may have made a mistake, no one can screw up like I can. On to your questions …

Yesterday’s nozzle check was made with Epson inks and after several prints.

I did the swab tests and I’ll attach the results. It sure looks to me that the VLM from the cart is too dark.

I’m also including an attachment of a ConeColor nozzle check comparison. The one on top was printed quite some time ago and the one on the bottom a couple of days ago. Again the VM looks dark.

We have not updated printer firmware, computer OS, print driver, or software.

We have shut everything down, unplugged the 4900 etc.

I still have the Epson carts in and the Blue skies are still Purple. If VM ink was added to the LVM refillable cart could the hose and printhead be still contaminated? Can I fix this? Will we ever have blue skies again?

Thanks Dana.
Peter

I’m still not able to attach files … see what I mean about being the best at screwing up. If they don’t go through I’ll email them again and ask for a tutorial.

To attach files click the “Insert Image” icon above, select the “From Computer” tab, and click the Basic Uploader on the bottom of the window- then “Browse” for and select your image, and push “Upload Image” to post. To make it bigger- double click on the image after it’s attached and select the size you want it to appear. If you continue having trouble attaching files yourself- email them to me and I will attach for you.

It is an embarrassing mistake, but hopefully a solid learning lesson and I expect he will pay much closer attention in the future to avoid this ever happening again…

Based on the nozzle check you sent (attached below), I can see the VLM and VM inks match- so it was the VLM cart that was misfilled with VM ink causing your overly dark/purple output. The LC and other positions looks correct. How I determined this was to open the image you sent below in Photoshop, copy a section of the LC section and paste it on the C- which I also did with with VLM/VM, and is how I can tell the VLM matches the VM.

From the number of prints you have made after switching inks, I believe you still have some VM ink in the VLM channel, and will need to do several more power clean cycles to flush out. I recommend getting a new VLM refill cart and fill it with fresh VLM ink, instead of trying to clean and reuse this contaminated cartridge. When you have the new VLM cart filled with correct ink, reinstall the set of carts and do an Initial Fill cycle to get back to happily printing like you were.